Wednesday, October 20, 2004

I'm In!

I love my roommate...because of this guy's hard work and dedication to my mental welfare, we're going to game after all tonight! Yaaaaay! That's right, it's been a day of severe ups and downs, but we'll be in the upper deck to watch a piece of history in the Bronx. Mikeyboy, you the man. You the fucking man!

And now a quick word about Ronan Tynan, the famed Irish Tenor who routinely wastes our time with "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch of many important games at Yankee Stadium. Everybody likes to make fun of Tynan because of his uncanny similarity of appearance to Sloth from The Goonies, but I personally think that joke is a bit too easy. We used to make fun of Tynan because he adds some weird and unnecessary words to the song about storm clouds gathering and some other shit, but not anymore. We'll no longer make fun of him, not after last night.

Joe Buck, at one point, referred to the tenor as Dr. Ronan Tynan. So Donnie and I immediately perked up and absolutely needed to find out what subject this guy holds a doctorate in. That led us to Google, where we read this guy's amazing life story. Before you make fun of Tynan again, read this fantastic biography of one of the most courageous men out there today:

"Tenor Ronan Tynan hails from Kilkenny, Ireland. His story is an example of dogged perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Ronan, a twin, whose brother died at the age of 11 months, was afflicted with lower leg problems in his early years until the decision was made to amputate his lower limbs after an accident at the age of 20. While this would be enough to wreck most people’s lives, it created in Ronan a tremendous desire to prove himself.

Within 12 months Ronan began winning medals at disabled games. Between 1981 and 1990, he amassed 18 gold medals and 14 world records in international track and field events (ed note: Tynan beat Jon Lieber in at least six of those events). He then went on to become the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education in Limerick. That was followed by training in medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, leading to his current position as a doctor of sports medicine.

When Ronan turned 30, he started taking voice lessons and, again, his natural talent shone through. In 1992 he won the John McCormack Cup for Tenor Voice which helped lead to master classes with the famous Italian tenor, Ugo Benelli, in Genoa.

While studying as a medical student in 1994, he shot to stardom after winning the BBC talent competition for “Go For It,” securing maximum points from the judging panel in the final. In 1996, Ronan won the prestigious “Marmande” singing competition in France and was invited to be part of the famous Pavarotti School.

His rapid rise to prominence led to Sony Music offering him a recording deal. Ronan has appeared on numerous television shows, including a tribute to the American singer Mario Lanza. He has been the subject of a recent ABC 20/20 segment, as well as an Irish documentary entitled Dr. Courageous. His first Album, My Life Belongs to You, was released in August 1998 and jumped straight into the charts at number five and was certified gold.

Ronan has added to his list of achievements by authoring his first book. In January, 2002 Simon & Schuster released his memoir, Halfway Home: My Life ‘Til Now. Though hampered by disability early in life, the remarkable story of Ronan Tynan is an inspiration to all. Few artists are so worthy of the success they receive. Ronan is one who deserves all this and more."

Unbelievable story! This man is a true testament to courage and determination and fortitude. I, for one, will no longer make fun of him. Or at least maybe I'll just do it behind his back, or under his non-legs. Lt. Dan, you got new legs. Magic legs!

did u know that ace has written roughly 3 and a half times as many words on this here slack and provided outbound links roughly 7 times more than donnie, yet his profile has been viewed 120 less times than the fiedler on the roof, the numbers never lie

well, if i had to take a stab at it, i'd say its a rather simple explanation, donnies name appears on the top, while yours is 2 below his, making it MUCH easier for lazy slackers to click donnies name than yours